No spend January

[ivykaty44]

anyone up for a no spend January?

just the normal utilities, food shopping and transport costs

then put the purse/wallet away and don't spend till February

a good way to rebalance the balance after xmas

£1.86 on some oats and pasta from a refill shop. I’m trying to spend better rather than less (more vegetarian, more free range and less plastic). £16 Riverford box.

I fell off the wagon. Was meant to go to the theatre last night (tickets booked ages ago) but the performance was cancelled as a cast member had Covid. So I went out to dinner with the friends i was meant to go with instead - lovely evening but £60 I really shouldn't have spent (the ticket was only £25)! Today was better, I spent £5 on some fruit, plus my Tube fare into work, and that was it.

My mum bought the drinks in the cafe! We went to M&S and she had a discount thing so she got them. It was £5 for the 4 of us.

I spent £4 on some Pokemon cards but will be reimbursed from my DS's Christmas money (I feel bad about this but looking at my spending it is treating the DC all the time that has got me in a muddle). Technically a NSD.

BUT when I got home I noticed my car has a flat tyre (we walked today to save parking costs and to burn off some of the DC's energy). We only replaced one just before Christmas. So I will be spending £60 tomorrow.

Re making lots of teas - my DH is a teapot. He works in the loft room (which he complains is too far from the kitchen). When he makes one tea he makes another in his insulated mug. Also means he only boils the kettle once.

Ugh. Heating costs. We are spending about £9 a day on gas and electricity , my mum is now only heating one room. If it gets really cold I have suggested that she comes to stay because we will be heating our house anyway.

Spendy day here as I had to cough up for the DC's after school clubs for this term. Pfft. I mean the costs are quite reasonable and we need the childcare but still...

@BigSkies22 my aims are mainly to pay off the credit card and build a little cushion for this year, either for a holiday (we didn't really have one last year) or to put towards a new car, mine's almost 10 years old so better to be prepared! This isn't helped by DP constantly saying "oh we can afford this" and then overspending by waaaaay too much

@DrRamsesEmerson I have some theatre tickets for a show first booked for March 2020! It's now the end of Jan.
I will need a train to London plus dinner with my friends. I could really do without it this month. I have £40 set aside for this - I hope your meal was lovely for £60! I think we will have to go for a pizza or wagamama to fit in my budget.

@DrRamsesEmerson - you weren't booked to see The Wife of Willesden, were you? I had tickets for Saturday, but it's cancelled.

£5.81 from Prolific today! I am encouraged by these posts about selling - I used to do a lot on eBay, but got out of the swing of it.

Well I am going to join and start tomorrow.. wish me luck

@MakeUsACuppa Food and transport is not included in the no spend, some people will have bus or train and some fuel for vehicles 🚗

Just need to moan about DH! I’ve explained to him we really need to cut back. He seems on board as is telling me not to go to shops for cheese (for mine and DC’s lunches today/tomorrow to stop me buying my lovely lardy baguette!) as “there’s some more in the fridge inside the door”. I go to check and it’s the expensive small portion of vintage cheddar we bought for new year at £5.50 a block LEFT UNWRAPPED in the door of the fridge. I’m ALWAYS bloody telling him to wrap the sodding cheese up and he can’t understand why I’m currently annoyed.

Oh and I appear to have the runs again!!!

Spent £10 on a top up shop and £10 on chippy for Dd and her boyf (don't ask). Not spending anything today at all no matter what anyone asks for!

NSD planned here.

Although I’m posting all the eBay parcels but they’ve been paid for.

Also collecting our Sainsburys order which was £47 in the end. Not bad considering it’s usually about £75ish!!

Anyone else feel uncomfortable when the freezer looks less full? no idea why but having an almost empty drawer gives me some kind of “arghhh I must buy food” feeling

@Woodlandarchitect yes! I get that feeling too.

Today I need to get a new tyre £60
Will take the DC to the library to swap out their books, DS needs a haircut (£12) and I have a Christmas present to return/ exchange.

Total spend so far this week is £26.40 which is not bad at all for me. I could easily spend that on a morning's trip to softplay.

Glad it isn’t just me!

I have £30 in Waterstones to spend (gift card) and I need some hair bands from Boots. I have £7 in Boots points - can I use those to purchase the hair bands?

I’ve had my Advantage card for years but I’ve never actually redeemed anything on there before!

@woodlandarchitect def use your boots points - I consider that “free” spending

@Woodlandarchitect yes, you can use your points for hair bands but I recall you can only use points for the transaction so if they come to £8 you can't top up with £1. This might have changed though.

Thanks both! I think I might go free shopping today then

I’m looking around my house looking at all the jobs that need doing and it’s so overwhelming. Being an architect means I know some tradies but they’re very high end and I doubt that they’d help with my shack of a house. And not to my taste nor budget!

We have a raised floor so the cold air is coming up from under the floor and the house is freezing. I think new floorboards and carpets throughout is a huge undertaking and something I won’t be able to afford for over a year.

I might put some rugs down and see if that helps!

@Creditcardshame I think you’re right! And that’s why I haven’t spent it yet. it gives me “checkout anxiety”

Disclaimer: I am a very anxious person!

@Woodlandarchitect try eBay, FB marketplace or gumtree for the rugs. In the spirit of saving money 😁

I had to spend £80 yesterday so feeling a bit down about it. It was school stuff for GSs A levels so I had to spend it so it can't be classed as unnecessary but still feels like a big spend, makes my £4.75 for birthday cards look like nothing.

I have taken another £5 from prolific so that's £35 of free money which helps. I've got £50 in nectar points/gift voucher for Sainsburys so don't think I will need to spend real money on food for a while, the fridge and freezer are still looking quite full.

I have a hair appointment for the end of the month, my hair is already looking a mess so not sure about delaying that. I'm feeling a bit down/on edge so maybe having my hair done is worth it. I only have it done every 8 weeks but think I really need it done every 6 weeks as it has started growing like mad, not sure what that is about as 8 weeks used to be fine. Maybe it is my thyroid medication.

I have a terrible urge to go out and spend money to cheer myself up but I'm trying to resist as I know it isn't the answer.

Just thought my prolific money and premium bond £50 cancels out all my spends! That has made me feel better.

@Invasionofthegutsnatchers

I always think January is a bit of a shit month (in general) but also for selling stuff. Nobody has money to spend. But well done if you're managing to get rid of stuff and make a profit.

Unless it appeals to teenagers, GS seems to be spending all his Christmas money on vintage fashion. Stuff that went to the charity shop when his dad and uncles were younger.

@Mogloveseggs

Spent £10 on a top up shop and £10 on chippy for Dd and her boyf (don't ask). Not spending anything today at all no matter what anyone asks for!

I really fancy fish and chips, probably a bit early in the day for it but I haven't had it for months.

Yes! Good idea about the rugs being secondhand.

It’s raining here so my “free spending” will have to wait for another day so I can walk home from the city centre. Buses are so expensive here!

The tyre centre repaired the puncture! £11.
I was very tempted by the lovely bakers next door but have decided to bake a cake with the DC instead.

Wow!! £11 is amazing!! Frugal win!